Several negotiators were concerned about the impact of the proposed language on an institution’s Internet-based activities.  Negotiators asserted that the HEA permits advertising and marketing activities by a third party, as long as payment to the third party is based on those who “click” and is not based on the number of individuals who enroll.  The Department agrees and does not believe that the proposed regulatory language would prohibit such click-through payments.

Please explain to me how CPC makes more sense than cpl, other than with non-internet (call center) leads.  Anyone who can manage an efficient CPL program can just as easily manage a successful CPC program.  Still don’t see why internet driven CPL is being called into question especially for the lead provider who have zero interaction with the prospect who sought out, then filled out the lead form for the school.

To access the complete 500+ page doc Click: 

http://www.ed.gov/news/student-aid-rules-protect-borrowers-and-taxpayers

then click on the link in box on right: notice of proposed rulemaking.

Education.  In their opinion the gainful employment rule is expected to be excluded from next

week’s education proposal.   The article outlines that the Office of Management and Budget

included a note in the Federal Register concluding that the DOE’s proposed program integrity

rules could have a major economic impact, a designation that would require the DOE to

strengthen the evidence necessary to justify the need for the regulation.  Furthermore, the article mentions

that the designation is believed to be a major reason why the DOE has (according to reports

from several sources Thursday, though unconfirmed by department officials directly) decided

to omit the gainful employment proposal from the proposed regulations expected to be

released next week.  This if the outcome follows the assumption will bring smiles to many of the faces I saw at last

weeks CCA.  Lets hope!

e look forward to catching up with many of you.

 If you are going to the CCA in June and are interested in attending an event with ForProfitEDU please email us to get on the list: info@forprofitedu.com

Please include your name, email address, position & firm.

Also, if you are with a company who is interested in participating with us at this event please inquire.

• That lead generators don’t contact/interact with the student prospects
• The the entire process is driven by the prospective student choosing and requesting
• That non-profits buy data on people who aren’t aware and the directly market them
• That the vendors are not in any way involved in the enrollment process
• That the education directories provide a valuable free service for prospective students
• That the lead generators have created much more outreach promoting education

Schools seem to think that if lead gen CPL has to either go away or change that CPC cost per click will remain…that doesn’t make any sense to me as ultimately the value of a click can be identified by conversions just as the value of a lead.  However, many mention that Google CPC is different as they set the price.  Other schools feel that placement fees/clotting fee will become the new normal. 

What do you think?

Real issues were discussed, not promotional jargon, thus the value of attending was clear.  We look forward to the Leadscon east show this summer and hope it will continue to out perform previous events.

LeadsCon Las Vegas 2010 takes place February 23rd and February 24, 2010. Join for two full days of unforgettable learning and unparalleled networking.

Register: http://www.leadscon.com/leadscon-las-vegas-2010/register.html

Almost all of the EDU lead vendors we have spoken to feel 2010 will continue to be strong for EDU lead gen, though most don’t expect a repeat of last year’s explosion.  Clearly the data suggests that most of the second half of 2009 showed a steady decline from the first half.  While year over year was still exceptional, the aggregate consistently began to decline in August continuing thru year end.  However November & December did not decline from October as much as previous years.

I am very interested to see how the market will take to it.  Hopefully strong.

Link to s-1: http://www.faqs.org/sec-filings/091222/QUINSTREET-INC_S-1.A/

Sparkroom provides business intelligence and lead delivery software that helps organizations immediately improve marketing efficiency and increase profitability by managing, measuring, and optimizing lead performance across all direct response marketing channels. Sparkroom's Lead Performance Management product suite, which includes LeadDeliver, LeadIQ, and Lead Market Analytics, enables direct marketers in higher education to:

   -- Understand the performance of every lead, regardless of the channel 

   -- Proactively manage lead vendors 

   -- Align marketing with sales or enrollment targets 

   -- Immediately improve the performance of marketing spend

“We are excited by the opportunities created by bringing CUnet and Sparkroom together,” said Matt McLaughlin, President of CUnet. “Sparkroom's technology products will complement CUnet's interactive media and marketing services to provide a powerful solution for colleges to drive the most value from their marketing spend. It's a great fit that will benefit marketers in the higher education sector.”

CUnet provides clients with a wide range of performance marketing services including vendor lead management, call center management, search marketing, display advertising, social media management, mobile marketing, and school operations consulting. Sparkroom's Lead Performance Management product suite provides comprehensive technology tools to education marketers, allowing them to make faster, data-driven decisions that drive marketing efficiency and business profitability. The companies will offer an industry-leading mix of marketing services and technology solutions for educational institutions from a single provider.

“Sparkroom's mission is to enable our customers to optimize their investments in interactive direct response marketing,” said Jamie McDonald, CEO of Sparkroom. “By teaming up with CUnet, we will accelerate our ability to deliver on that mission and bring new ground-breaking products to the market, which will continue to improve marketing efficiency for higher education marketers.”

Sparkroom co-founders McDonald and Jamie Shulman, Vice President of Operations, will continue to lead Sparkroom and its associates from Toronto.

While the purchase price is not material to Nelnet, the acquisition adds strategic value to the company by broadening its lead generation products and services business and further strengthens its lead generation technology.

About CUnet

CUnet is the premier provider of online performance media and interactive marketing services driving qualified student inquiries and enrollments for the higher education industry. Founded in 2003, the company has grown rapidly to oversee the promotional campaigns of over 1 000 colleges, universities, and career schools throughout the United States and Canada. CUnet is dedicated to creating cost-effective marketing programs using a mix of online media strategies and formats to find prospective students, generate qualified responses, and maximize enrollments and starts. CUnet is a subsidiary of Nelnet, a leader in education planning and financing for more than 30 years. CUnet is based in Paramus, NJ. For more information, visit www.cunet.com.

About Sparkroom

Sparkroom delivers innovative solutions to direct marketers, including its comprehensive Lead Performance Management software and services. Sparkroom Lead Deliver, Lead IQ, and Lead Market Analytics deliver a hosted business intelligence platform to give direct response marketers the tools and expertise needed to measure, manage, and optimize their lead acquisition spending across every direct response channel. Sparkroom's software, which it hosts and delivers to its customers on demand, enables customers to capture, store, and analyze information generated by their lead buying activities and to gain critical business insights into the performance and efficiency of marketing and sales initiatives and other business processes. Founded in 2007, Sparkroom is privately held. For more information, visit www.sparkroom.com.

Information contained in this press release, other than historical information, may be considered forward-looking in nature and is subject to various risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those anticipated, estimated, or expected. Among the key factors that may have a direct bearing on Nelnet's operating results, performance, or financial condition expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements are the uncertain nature of the expected benefits from the acquisition and the ability to successfully integrate operations, changes in terms of student loans and the educational credit marketplace changes in the demand for educational financing or in financing preferences of educational institutions, students and their families, or changes in the general interest rate environment and in the securitization markets for education loans.

(code #: nnig)

SOURCE Nelnet Inc.

/CONTACT: Media, Ben Kiser, +1-402-458-3024; Investors, Phil Morgan, +1-402-458-3038; both of Nelnet Inc.

/Web site: http://www.nelnet.com